


One Turtle's Trash

by Tarin2014tfan



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 11:11:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9488546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarin2014tfan/pseuds/Tarin2014tfan
Summary: The brothers go on a supply run to the junkyard. What they find proves looks can be deceiving, then again, maybe not so deceiving after all.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own TMNT or any of the characters therein. Some VERY rich dude does.  
> Rating - Mature Audiences  
> Story Warnings- Emotional distress, Swearing, Brotherly affection, T-cest, Sexual innuendoes, Sorcery (Don't like these topics? Do not read.)  
> Pairings -Leo & Raph, Donnie & Mikey, Implied OT4  (Don't like? Do not read.)  
> Universe- 2007  
> Ages- All turtles are 21 years of age (I made them this age to account for time passage in the series storyline.)

**One Turtle's Trash**

 

 

"What's left on the list, Don?"

Donatello set the box of discarded electronics and tools he was holding on the ground, and pulled a dog-eared notebook from his duffle. "We need more bedding or large pieces of fabric, high grade copper wire, cell phones, laptops, and anything else with a small camera..."

"Like that box of Barbie dolls I found last week?" Mikey interrupted laughing.

"I never would have thought so, but those work perfectly for replacement security cameras," Donnie grinned back. "They're sturdier than most of the laptop and cell phone cameras we usually find."

"Must be cuz der kid toys," Raph chuckled. "What idiot thought dat up?"

"We still need some more wood to finish repairing Master Splinter's bookcase, and some extra game system parts would be handy."

"Do we have enough spare parts to keep the sewer sliders and shellcycles going for a while?"

Donnie and Raph exchanged amused looks. Sometimes their leader brother had a one track mind that refused to be detoured.

"We could use some extra brake pads for the van," Leo's eyeridges dipped in a mild frown. "But we can hit one of the Purple Dragon's chop shops for those later this week during our regular patrols."

Leo's frown vanished as quickly as it appeared, but his mind continued running at maximum velocity down it's lone track labeled responsibility.

"It'll be sunrise in a few hours. Mikey, you and Raph load the van. Donnie and I will bring in the things we've set aside out in the junkyard. After that, if we have any time left, we'll search for what's left on the list until we have to go."

Decision made, Leo headed back into the junkyard to begin bringing in their scavenged finds, leaving his brothers to carry out his orders.

Which they did, to a point.

Mikey opened the back doors to the van as Raph grabbed the box Donnie had brought in with him to set it inside. When the orange banded turtle went to grab another box of scavenged supplies, he was more than a little surprised to find Donnie still standing beside the van.

"You messing with Leo, bro?"

"No, I'm making a minor change to his... suggested instructions."

Raph paused sliding a box inside the van. "I wanna be der when ya try ta explain dat. Leo's eye's gonna start twitchin' before yer two words in."

Donnie grinned. "He's not THAT bad."

"Wanna bet?" Raph and Mikey said at the same time.

"Knock it off you two," Grinning, Donnie shook his head at his two brightly banded brothers. "I didn't get a chance to check the back corner of the junkyard because I found that spool of housing wire, and it took a while to dig it out. Since there's not too much to load right now, I wanted to take one of you with me, and search that area. I thought I saw some canvas sheeting in pretty good shape back there when we pulled up."

"We can use dat fer a lot a t'ings."

"Exactly."

"Raph, you stay here," Mikey jumped out of the van. "I'll go with Donnie," he said, grinning widely, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Why do I have ta stay here, an' deal with Fearless' when he finds out 'bout dis minor change," Raph looked pointedly at Donnie. "While YOU are goofing around in da junkyard?"

"I won't be goofing off," Mikey said indignantly. "I'll be helping Donnie!"

"Helpin' an' goofin' off are interchangeable in yer vocabulary, knucklehead."

Donnie quickly intervened in hopes of staving off the pending fight between his brothers. "You have to stay here because Leo's going to need help lifting that engine stand he and I found."

Raph was the strongest of the four brothers, hands down, but Leo was by no means a slouch in the muscle department. Donnie was up to something.

"Why's Leo need help lifting an engine stand?" Raph asked suspiciously.

"Because the engine's still attached to it," Donnie smirked, grabbing Mikey by the arm pulling his baby brother after him as the genius headed into the junkyard.

 

Looking at the pile of supplies he and Mikey had scavenged, Donnie didn't think Leo would be too upset with him for disregarding the leader's orders. They had found enough material for everyone in the family to have a complete set of new bedding, including the cat, with enough leftover fabric to make slipcovers for the furniture in the main room, and to replace the blankets the family kept on the sofa. The brothers also found several boxes filled with dishes, towels, pillows, candles, and various other household goods. There was even a few boxes of books, video games, and movies.

New reading material would go a long way to appeasing Leo if the clan leader was more annoyed over Donnie's minor adjustments to Leo's plan than the genius had anticipated.

"Awesome idea, Donnie, checking this section!" Mikey held his hand out to his olive skinned brother for a high five.

Donnie gave his brother's hand a solid slap. "Here's hoping Leo thinks so too."

"He doesn't right at the moment."

Hearing their oldest brother's voice directly behind them made both turtles jump. Spinning around, they found not only Leo standing there, but their emerald skinned brother as well. But where Raph looked like he was about to burst out laughing, Leo looked like he wanted to use his two youngest brothers for target practice.

Donnie thought it prudent to play the slightly scatterbrained genius instead of tackling Leo's irritation head on. It HAD saved his tail countless times before. "You're not going to believe what all we found, guys!"

"Yeah! It looked like someone had packed up to move, and then just dumped the truck right here! Most of this stuff was still in boxes!" Having an equal investment to saving his own tail, Mikey played alone with what his brother was doing.

If the family genius thought it would work, who was he to question?

The only problem was, Leo didn't seem to be falling for it, but Raph sure was. "Anyt'in' good?"

"That depends on what you consider good," Donnie shrugged, hiding a smile. "We found a box of duct tape, chrome polish, and..." he glanced over to Mikey.

"A big ol' sheet of red leather!" Mikey finished.

Rap's eyes grew huge. "Yer fuckin' kiddin' me."

Mikey stuck out a foot and flipped open the flaps on a large cardboard box with his toe. Lying inside was a folded piece of red tinted leather. Raph looked like he was in turtle Heaven.

"How big is it?" the emerald turtle asked, running a hand reverently over the unmarred fabric.

"From my calculations, based on the dimensions of the box, and the size of the folds, I would say it's..."

Mikey's excitement refused to be held in check any longer. "Big enough to recover the punching bag, your bike seat, AND make you a brand spanking, no duct tape required, new... WORKOUT BENCH SEAT!"

Anyone would have been hard pressed to say who was happier, Mikey for being the one to tell Raph about the leather, or Raphael because he knew his baby brother had just offered, in his own Mikey way, to help the emerald brawler with the refurbishing of his sport's equipment.

"We also found a couple boxes of movies and books," Donnie leaned closer to Leo, dropping his voice. "All genres, ranging from modern titles to the classics."

With the small smile that graced Leo's usually serious expression, there were now four very happy mutant turtles standing in the junkyard. Mikey because of the movies and games. Raph because of the leather. Leo because of the books. And Donnie because he was now NOT going to have his ass handed to him by his leader brother tomorrow morning at practice.

"Good decision, Don," Leo's smile grew a little larger. "Let's load up, and head home."

"Yeah. Well, there's just one small problem with that, Leo." Donnie hated that look on Leo's face, it always meant someone was going to get their ass handed to them, and this time it was most likely going to be him. "Like Mikey said, most of the stuff is still in boxes, and there's several pieces of decent furniture we could use too, including a larger bookcase for Master Splinter." When in doubt, or your ass is in danger, play the parental concern card. "I don't think we're going to be able to get it all in the van."

Leo was reluctant to leave anything his brothers had found behind. Really good scavenging was rare, and past experience had proven if they left something behind, regardless of how well they had hidden it, the items would either be gone, or destroyed beyond even Donnie's ability to repair when they returned for them the next night.

Leo's eyeridges furrowed in thought as the blue banded ninja pondered the situation. He checked the position of the moon, glanced towards the Eastern horizon, then leaned around Raph to look at the pile of items Donnie and Mikey had set aside.

"Raph, go get the van," he tossed the emerald turtle the keys to the ignition. "We're going to use the 'Mikey Method'," Leo grinned.

The 'Mikey Method' was a phrase Donnie had pinned for the way their baby brother had packed the contents of his room during a move to a temporary lair one particularly rainy Spring. 

The four brothers had been given three cardboard boxes each to pack their belongings into, and unfortunately, whatever didn't fit, didn't come. Mikey had been determined not to leave a single treasured item behind.

That determination paid off. The orange banded turtle had not only been the only one able to pack the entire contents of his room, but he also did it in just two boxes. That extraordinary feat had been accomplished by cramming things into every inch of space available, and then some. Mikey's boxes hadn't made even the smallest rattle when shaken.

Splinter had been impressed, until he went to lift them.

Now, every time a large number of items had to be loaded into a small amount of space, one of Mikey's brothers referred to the task as using the 'Mikey Method'.

Raph pulled the van up next to the waiting pile of supplies. Working together the four brothers quickly unloaded the van, then with Leo and Mikey on the inside, began to reload their finds.

Working together as a team, they managed to load everything into the van, and get back to the garage a good hour before sunrise.   
 

 

"So what do you think's inside?"

The brothers had gathered in the garage right after practice to unload their previous night's scavenging. One item in particular had caught everyone's attention, a weathered wooden chest Mikey had found buried under a pile of trash bags, and soiled mattresses. It was a beautiful chest made of a dark hardwood, stained to bring out the detailed woodgrain. The lid, slightly curved, was covered in intricate carvings of woodland creatures, and mythical beasts.

It was something that would have been right at home in an Eighteenth century country manor.

The only thing out of place about the chest was a thick chain tightly woven through a series of metal loops riveted onto the body and lid at regular intervals all the way around. The loose ends of the chain were held together by a heavy padlock, keeping the lid firmly locked in place.

Leo was currently kneeling in front of the chest, working at the lock to open it.

"Dunno," Raph shrugged, looking at his overly excited baby brother. "Leo's da quickest at pickin' locks. He'll have it open inna sec, den we'll find out."

"It must be something valuable for someone to go to this much trouble," Donnie mused, watching the oldest work.

"Like a new PlayStation, or one of those hot new poly-fib skateboards!" Grinning, Mikey rubbed his hands together. "MY feet're twitching just thinking about it!

Raph scowled at the sea green turtle. That was really out there, even for Mikey. Obviously little brother's imagination was working overtime, again.

"Nobody's dumb enough ta throw a new PlayStation in da junkyard, knucklehead."

"They would if they preferred X-Box!"

Raph's reply to Mikey's question was cut off by the clink of one end of the chain hitting the cement floor.

"It's open, guys."

Mikey leapt forward in anticipation.

Leo pulled the lock free of the chain. He turned it over in his hand, running a thumb over it's tarnished surface. "Don, what do you make of this?"  Frowning, the leader handed the lock to his genius brother.

Donnie's face quickly brightened with excitement. "I've never seen anything like this before. The surface appears to be etched all over, like the lid, but I'll have to polish it to know for certain. It looks more like some kind of ancient writing than drawings."

"Is the metal what I think it is?" Leo asked.

"I think so. It's hard to tell the purity with this much tarnish though." Donnie held the lock out to Raph and Mikey. "What do you guys think?"

Mikey peered over Don's shoulder. "Looks like silver to me. April's shop's full of it. But it's pretty dirty," he traced a finger over some of the lines. "And the etchings aren't drawings. The lines are too uniform. More like writing, like Donnie said."

"It is silver," Raph took the lock from his brother. "In good shape too, not all banged up an' scratched like ya'd expect just lookin' at it. Almost like it's brand new, but it's tarnished like it's decades old."

"The wood looks weathered, but this chest is sturdy, like it's never been used," Leo ran his hand over the surface of the lid. "Why would anyone put an old lock on a new chest?"

"An' a silver one at dat. Dis much silver could feed a family fer a long time. Not somet'in' anyone in der right mind would jus' throw 'way."

"They both could be the same age." Having latched onto another puzzle that needed solving, Donnie was becoming excited. "The inside surfaces will show equal signs of aging if it's as old as it appears. This may just be a visual deception for some reason. An aged appearance can be obtained by using the correct combination of stains on the wood, and solvents on the metal."

"Only one way to find out, bro," Mikey grinned, elbowing his oldest brother aside, and opening the chest.

The other three crowded in close.

"What IS this stuff?" Using finger and thumb, Mikey gingerly lifted a very dingy, white fuzzy blanket from inside the chest. "It smells like an old coat!"

"That's because it's a fleece." Donnie informed his brother.

With a flick of the wrist, Mikey tossed the blanket aside. "Why would someone put a filthy sheep's skin in a nice looking chest like this?"

"They wanted to protect whatever else they had in there, Mikey."

"It better be worth it," Raph growled, kicking the nasty piece of fabric off his foot from where Mikey had tossed it. "Otherwise Mikey's gonna be wearin' it, permanently!"

Mikey turned back to the chest, and grimaced. Boy, he sure hoped Leo would intervene on his behalf, because if not Mikey was going to look more like a Stone Age throwback than a ninja turtle. 

Underneath the sheep's skin was a layer of equally dirty white cotton fabric, marred with the telltale yellowing of long dried water stains.

"Whatever's inside here must be pretty fragile," Mikey lifted an edge of the cotton fabric. "Because there's another one of those sheep hides underneath it, whatever it is."

"Den let's find out what IT is," Raph growled, yanking away the stained cotton.

To say the emerald turtle was stunned by the contents of the chest would have been a vast understatement. "Ya gotta be kiddin' me."

"Who on Earth would go to such lengths for these things?" Leo reached inside the chest, lifting out one of the items. "They're..."

"Ugly," Donnie said flatly.

"Da shit nightmares're made of!"

"Come on, guys! They're garden GNOMES!" Mikey grinned. "Everybody loves garden gnomes!"

"Den put 'em in yer room."

Mikey was horrified by the very thought. "No way! I don't want 'em! Their eyes look like something you'd see watching you from outside a window on a dark stormy night when the lights go out, and a convict escaped from jail!"

"We can give them to April," Leo chuckled at his brother's overactive imagination. "She might be able to sell them in her shop."

"Why would she want to?" Raph grimaced at the thought of helping set the odd little figurines on display in April's shop.

"She sold all of those dog and cat figurines we found a couple of months ago," Donnie reminded his brother. "Made a nice profit off of them too."

"Yeah, but doze were just..." Raph searched for the right word. "Weird. Dese are... butt ugly!"

"Some people like ugly," Leo replaced the figurine back in the chest. "The least we can do is ask her."

"I agree!" Mikey closed the lid with a loud thump. "What do we do with these creepy looking things in the meantime?"

"Why not leave them where they are?" Leo kicked the pieces of padding fabric from the middle of the garage floor closer to the chest.

"Okay, I just didn't think anyone wanted these creepy little things downstairs."

Leo was half afraid to ask. "Just WHY would these creepy little things be going downstairs, Mikey?"

"THEY aren't, Leo," Mikey grinned. "The chest IS. I wanted to replace those crates we're using downstairs with the chest. Or do you want to live through another incident where Master Splinter's tail comes in contact with them again?"

Leo blanched.

Donnie's eyes grew wide.

Raph made a noise somewhere between a whimper and a squeak.

"I thought not. Besides, we can use the inside for storage."

"That's actually a good idea," Donnie was visibly impressed, as visions of electronic projects waiting to be repaired and being stored inside the trunk danced through his mind.

"We can put video games, DVDs, CDs, comic books, all sorts of stuff in there! The possibilities are endless!"

An emerald arm draped itself across Donnie's shoulders. "Dat took yer idea, whatever it was, an' tossed it right out da door, didn't it?" Raph chuckled.

Donnie sighed, shaking his head.

"We can take it downstairs now, call April to come over and look at them, then when she's done, we can clean it out, and put whatever we want inside."

"Sounds like a plan, Fearless," Raph reached down and grabbed a handle. "Someone get da other side. Da sooner we get downstairs wid dis, da sooner I can grab somet'in' ta eat."

 

Splinter stared at the chest his sons had brought down from the garage, his expression wary and guarded. 

This was not the reaction the turtles had expected from their father. "Sensei, something wrong?" Mikey asked.

"I am unsure, my son," the ninja master stroked his beard, slowly circling the chest. "There are strange energies coming from this chest." He looked up at Leo, his eyebrows furrowed. "Do you know what is inside?"

"Only lawn decorations, Sensei."

Mikey lifted the lid, showing their father the colorful gnomes lying inside.

Splinter's frown increased. "What do you plan to do with these... lawn decorations?" he peered in the chest, moving the dozen or so figurines around with the end of his cane.

"We thought April might like to have them to sell in her shop."

Splinter made a non-committal noise acknowledging having heard his son. "And the chest?"

"We're going to replace the crates with it!" Mikey grinned. "That way you won't have to worry about getting splinters in your tail anymore, Master SPLINTER."

The rat shuddered at the memory of his tail coming into contact with the rough wood of the crates. It had been anything but pleasant for both the ninja master and Donatello.

Mikey's brothers shuddered at the jokester's terrible pun.

"I see. What time is Miss O'Neil to arrive to look at these... lawn decorations?"

"Later this afternoon," Donnie replied. "She has a customer coming by to look at that suit of armor she has in the shop sometime around noon."

Splinter nodded. "Then we must make her feel welcome. Michelangelo, go prepare a meal. We shall invite Miss O'Neil to dine." The ninja master turned to his other three sons. "It would also be an opportune time to give the lair a thorough cleaning. Would it not?" he said smoothly.

Even after all these years, the turtles were still amazed by how easily their father played them. "Yes, Master Splinter," all four said in unison, sounding not the least bit happy.

Chuckling, their father headed back to his room. "I shall meditate on the energies coming from that chest. Something about them are familiar, yet... unsettling."

The brothers watched Splinter as the rat quietly left the room. Slightly worried, they looked at one another, then at the chest setting on the floor. If Splinter had enough reason to feel unsettled about the seemingly innocuous piece of furniture, it would be wise for his sons to heed the warning.

Which was exactly what Leo intended to do.

"Since I'm going to be cooking anyway, I guess I'll take the kitchen." Mikey wasn't too upset over the prospect of cleaning the kitchen. It had become the sea green turtle's domain by default anyway since he did the majority of the cooking.

"I'll give you a hand, Mikey. That way you can concentrate on cooking dinner instead of cleaning," Donnie offered.

"Your services are most welcomed, good sir." Mikey gave a flourished bow, making the genius smile.

"Raph and I will clean the dojo. By the time we finish, Donnie should be done in the kitchen, and the three of us can clean the bathroom. By that time Mikey should be to a point cooking that he can help us clean out here."

The other three readily agreed. Sometimes it came in handy having an anal retentive, perfectionist, older brother in charge of things.

Just not very often.

As the four brothers headed off to attend to their various chores, not a one of them noticed the lid of the chest was open ever so slightly, and with each step they took moving farther from the main room, it opened just a fraction more.

 

"I don't get why Master Splinter makes us clean da lair every single time April comes over." The air reverberated with the sound of a free weight being slammed down with a bit more force than necessary. "I mean it's not like she don't know we're GUYS, an' TURTLES! Wid neither one havin' much of a reputation fer cleanin'. She's SEEN Casey's apartment enough times ta know dat!"

Leo stopped himself from laughing at his emerald brother's rant, but allowed himself an amused grin since Raph wasn't able to see Leo's face at the angle he was standing. "We're all well aware how much you enjoy cleaning, Raphael. Almost as much as Mikey enjoys training." Leo was hard pressed not to laugh at the brawler's responding snort. "Just look at it this way, we get the cleaning done now, we have more time to do other things later on."

"Other t'in's like...?"

Startled, hearing Raph's deep, gravely voice directly behind him, Leo instinctively reached for his weapons, immediately feeling guilty for doing so. He turned around to apologize only to find his brother not just violating the leader's personal space, but claiming most of it as his own.

"Uh... things like covering your sports equipment," Leo swallowed, feeling the intense heat radiating off Raphael's well muscled body. "You know, things someone might consider a reward for..." Leo's brain refused to work, having to struggle against the irresistible force that was Raphael when the emerald turtle wanted something.

And right now, Raph wanted something very badly.

Leo.

"A reward fer doin' what, exactly?"

Leo hated the way every little thing seemed to spiral out of control when Raph was this close to him. So close he could see the way the tiny creases in Raph's skin expanded with each breath the red banded ninja took.

"T-taking care of your r-responsibilities."

Great! Now he was stuttering!

"Responsibilities like what? Cleanin' da dojo?"

Temporarily denied the ability to speak, Leo could only nod.

"Looks ta me like we're done," Raph leaned in until Leo could feel his brother's hot breath ghosting over his skin. "So, we BOTH deserve a reward, don'tcha t'ink?"

Raph didn't give Leo time to respond. He grasped his brother's shoulders, tipping the leaf green turtle back just enough for Raph to latch onto Leo's collarbone. Hearing Leo's shocked, but pleasured gasp, Raph smirked into the tender flesh he was sucking on.

Leo put up only the smallest amount of resistance. "Raph, we can't... Not here..."

Raph opted to bite Leo's neck instead of rolling his eyes.

He would never understand why Leo insisted on being a prude everywhere but in the bedroom? At night? When everyone else was supposedly sleeping? Hell, it wasn't like they were fooling anyone! Donnie and Mikey were having sex wherever there happened to be a flat surface! Horizontal OR vertical!

Raph knew THAT little tidbit of information for a fact, having learned the hard way to knock before entering ANY room with a door; bathroom, lab, garage, sewers. Well, technically, the sewers didn't have a door, but the lair did. Raph figured it had to be some kind of twisted reverse logic thing only Donnie understood, but still.

And yes, if the dojo screen was pulled, and Donnie and Mikey were inside, you damn well better knock before going in there too.

The sad thing was, Raphael had learned that knocking lesson all in ONE day.

Those two rabbits disguised as turtles were probably going at it in the kitchen at that exact moment!

"Yes, we can. An' we will," Raph bite down on that oh so sensitive spot just under Leo's chin. 

Leo made the most amazing sounds when Raph did that.

"Sensei's meditatin', an' Donnie an' Mikey are busy," Raph chuckled when he said the word 'busy'. "We aren't goin' ta be interrupted."

To stop any further protest, Raph brought his foot up, clipping his brother in back of the knees. He caught Leo before he hit the floor, easing the leaf green turtle down onto his carapace. Raph straddled Leo's hips, and slowly lowered himself until he was sitting on his brother's thighs, effectively pinning the older with his weight. 

A slow grin spread across Raph's face, perfectly matching the lustful look in his eyes. It was time for some fun.

Leo's breath came in short, quick pants. Oh, SHELL! What Raphael could do to him when he put his mind to it! A small cry escaped his mouth when Raph's hot tongue painted a wide, searing trail down the center line of his plastron. It felt so good!

"Ya like dat, Fearless?" Raph decided to take the high pitched keening sound his brother made as a yes. "Ya like it when I dominate ya? When I do whatever I want ta ya?' Needy whimpers also qualified as 'yes' at times like this. "Good. Cuz I'm gonna do all kinds of t'in's ta ya," Raph's voice dropped to a rough whisper. "Because yer MINE."  
   
Leo couldn't stop the involuntary shudder that ran through his body. Raph was in rare form. Usually their couplings were on a more equal level, but Raph was completely dominating his leaf green lover now.

If Raph did what he usually did to Leo when in a mood like this, Leo was going to cancel both evening training, and tonight's patrol. It was kind of hard to be an effective leader after being reduced to a boneless pile of well pleasured flesh.

Raph's hands and lips teased their way down Leo's body, lightly tickling the more sensitive places along the leaf green turtle's bridges and scutes. Emerald fingers tightened on Leo's thighs, kneading the flesh in a firm grip.

Leo knew it was coming. Raph did it every time he was in one of these moods, but it still came as a surprise. He gasped, feeling his tail fully engulfed in Raph's hot mouth, crying out as his brother began caressing the sensitive underside with the tip of his tongue. 

It felt too good to describe, what Raph was doing to him. Leo's eyes flew open as he fought to draw in breath. He arched his back as far as his shell would allow, and then some, pressing the back of his head hard into the padding on the dojo floor. Every muscle in Leo's body was taut, straining against the intense pleasure shooting out from that wiggling appendage being tortured oh so lovingly by Raph's skilled tongue. 

Emerald fingers dug into Leo's hips, keeping him from shifting even the smallest amount as Raph continued to toy with that delectable tail.

The intense sensations ran that thin line between pleasure and pain.

Just when Leo felt he could take no more, that he would surely pass out from the fire raging along his nerves, Raph stopped. The emerald turtle just... stopped!

Before Leo could draw even the smallest breath, teeth lightly grazed the tip of his now overly stimulated and very sensitive tail.

Leo's mouth opened in a silent scream as his hands slammed flat onto the floor. His cock sprang from it's hidden pocket, fully erect, and Leo literally erupted, splattering not only himself but his brother with thick, hot streams. He thought he would never stop.

After what felt like an eternity, Leo lay exhausted and panting against Raphael, trying to calm his thundering heartbeat. A smile curled the edges of his mouth as Raph nuzzled into him.

"Damn, I thought ya were never gonna stop. Dat musta been da hardest one yet."

Leo nodded. "Why," he swallowed, taking a deep gulp of air. "Why do you keep doing that to me?"

"Cuz ya like it, ya freak," Raph smirked.

The emerald turtle didn't see the grin that crossed Leo's face, nor did Leo make the smart-assed remark Raph was half expecting. Not receiving any response from his lover, something began to dig at the back of Raph's mind. Something dark and sinister, pulling up every doubt he had ever had about himself, and his brother's love.

"Ya do like it, don'tcha, Leo?"

Leo knew that tone, and what it meant. In the beginning of their relationship, he had heard it often enough from his emerald lover, nearly every night. Hearing it now, after so long, worried him.

"Yeah, Raph. I..." wanting to give his brother the reassurances Raphael needed, Leo went to sit up, but the sensitivity of his tail stopped him cold.

Seeing Leo wince, Raph jumped to the wrong conclusion. "I hurt ya."

"What!? No!" Leo took Raph's face in his hands, forcing his brother to look at him. "Raph, you know my tail's always sensitive after we do that. I just need a little time before I can sit on it," Leo held his brother's doubt filled gaze. "I'm FINE, Raphael. Just fine."

Leo watched as the worry and fear slowly drained from his brother's face, but a tiny amount still lingered in the depths of Raph's golden eyes.

"Raph, what brought this on?"

Raph shrugged. "Dunno. Just when ya asked me why I did it..."

"I always ask that. It's what we do."

Raph tried to look away. Leo refused to let him. "Ya didn't say nuttin' back dis time."

"Raphael Hamato," Leo whispered, pulling his brother tight against his plastron. "We've been through all this, time and again," he pressed a kiss to Raph's temple. "I TRUST you. I always have. I trust you to watch my back in a fight. I trust you when you dominate me during sex. I trust you to tie me up, to use sex toys on me, and to not hurt me whatever we do. And if ever you DO, do something I don't like, I trust you not to do it ever again."

Raph looked at Leo with watery eyes. Why did Fearless have to be so damned perfect? The corners of Raph's mouth lifted ever so slightly. Perfect for Raphael in every way. "Yeah, I know," he said softly. "I don't know why it hit me so hard dis time."

This had just morphed into one of those rare moments Raph allowed himself be vulnerable.

"Have you felt this way recently, before today?"

Raph tucked his head further under Leo's chin. "No."

Raphael was beginning to feel embarrassed and humiliated for breaking down in front of his lover and leader. And Leo knew it.

"Okay," Leo nuzzled the top of his brother's head, giving Raph one final kiss on the forehead. "I want us to talk about this later, but right now, we better get moving or the next person walking through that door is going to be Sensei. I don't think neither one of us want THAT," he added with a small chuckle.

Raph stood, and helped Leo to his feet, being extra careful of his brother's still sensitive tail. Leo pushed down a sigh, knowing it would take some time for Raph to lock those doubts back in their vault, but hopefully they would be smaller the next time they reared their ugly head.

As long as his brawler brother questioned his own self worth, Leo knew those feelings on inadequacy would return. He just hoped Raph knew Leo would always be there to help lock those doubts away.

"Hey, Leo. Thanks, fer... ya know."

Yeah. Raph knew.

"Anytime. That's what loving someone's all about," Leo smiled.

"Sap," Raph smiled in return.

"You like me that way."

Confident everything was once again fine, the two brothers turned to leave, and froze. Sitting there on the floor, right beside the door, was one of the garden gnomes from the chest.

"What da Hell?" Scowling, Raph picked the figurine off the floor. "How'd dis t'in' get in here?"

"Mikey probably set it in here as a prank," Leo opened the dojo screen stepping out. "You know how he gets."

"Yeah, well he's SUPPOSED ta be cookin' dinner, an' cleanin' da kitchen, not playin' pranks."

"We'll just put it back, grab Donnie, and go clean the bathroom without saying a word about it. Mikey will have to finish the kitchen by himself, and never know if we found it or if Sensei did," Leo smirked. "Pretty fair payback in my opinion."

"Yeah, I suppose."

Glad that Raph was back into his normal camouflaging grouchy mood, Leo led the way to the chest sitting in front of the sofa. He frowned, looking around the family living room while Raph replaced the figurine. Something didn't feel right. Nothing looked out of place, but at the same time it seemed as if everything had been moved just enough to be noticed on a subconscious level.

And that wasn't the only unsettling thing going on.

"If he put one a dese damn t'in's in MY room, he's gonna be cleanin' da whole damn lair fer a month! Wid his TONGUE!"

Leo turned around and quickly discovered the reason for his brawler brother's ire.

The chest was empty.

 

Donnie stood in the doorway of the kitchen, letting his brightly banded brother walk in ahead of him. "Okay, Mikey. Where do you want me to start?"

"You can start at the front," Mikey turned so he was facing Donnie, and shimmied his hips. "Then you can work your way to the back," he turned around, bending slightly forward at the waist and flicked his tail up in the air, again shimmying his hips.

"I meant with cleaning the kitchen," Donnie sighed, rolling his eyes at his brother.

"OH! In THAT case," Mikey hopped up on the edge of the table, leaning back on his shell, and spreading his legs as wide as turtle-ly possible. "Start with the table, then..." Mikey did a back flip over and off the table, landing in front of the range. He bent over the stovetop, hands on either side, "Work your way back to the stove," he grinned, once again flicking his tail up.

"Your incorrigible," Donnie groaned. "How about I start with the refrigerator?"

"Whatever works for ya, bro!"

Moving a chair, and the trashcan, next to the refrigerator, Donnie got down to business. "So, what do you plan on cooking for April?"

"We have those steaks in there that need to be used, and since there's not enough for us to just have steaks, I was thinking maybe beef stroganoff, or stew."

"We have all the stuff you need for stroganoff," Donnie set several items behind him on the table. "But unless you want to use these," he held up several tiny carrots, all limp and wrinkled. "We don't have everything you need for stew."

Mikey didn't even reach for the used to be carrots turned raisins, he just picked up the trashcan and held it under Donnie's hand so the genius could just drop them in.

"Why do you not clean this thing out more often?" Donnie asked, honestly curious as he tossed something black and slimy in the trash, container and all.

"Because YOU'RE always putting experiments in there, and I'm tired of getting yelled at when I finally do get around to throwing them out months later," Mikey huffed. "Speaking of, wasn't THAT one of yours?"

"No. I only use the green containers with the purple and pink swirls on them," Donnie chucked several empty mayo jars in the trash. "And I don't yell at you for throwing out my experiments. I yell at you for not letting me know they're in there BEFORE you throw them out," another jar went in the trash. "Big difference, and who eats this much mayonnaise? That can't be healthy."

"Hello! Why do you think I got you that calendar with the big ass grid? Use it, dude! And no one ate that mayo all at one sitting. I just keep the empty jars to piss Raph off when he goes to make a sandwich and can't find the full one. And speaking of Raph..."

"Nice segue," Donnie tossed a mustard bottle a good year past it's expiration date in the trash. "How did THAT end up in here? None of us even LIKE mustard."

"Thank you," Mikey grinned. "Casey. He likes it on turkey sandwiches."

Donnie blinked. "That was Thanksgiving! TWO years ago!"

"That's why it's so old, dude. You know Raph likes eating cereal out of those bowls, so why do you keep using them for your experiments?"

Donnie tossed a half full soy sauce bottle that the liquid inside looked more like chunky molasses than soy sauce, before grinning up at his brother. "Same reason you keep the empty mayonnaise jars."

Donnie finished wiping down the refrigerator completely unaware his baby brother was casting furtive glances at his ass the entire time. "All finished, but I am NOT taking out the trash. Leo or Raph can do it."

"I'll do it, I don't want Raph to see all those empty mayo jars," Mikey snickered, rummaging through the cabinets. "Man, I think I may have jumped the gun on this one," he groaned, letting the cabinet door close with a bang.

"Why's that?" Donnie asked, having moved on to emptying the dishwasher.

"No egg noodles."

Donnie set the plates on the counter to go check the cabinets his brother had just searched. "What do we have?"

"Lasagna noodles, corkscrew, penne, and bowtie."

"Can you cut the lasagna noodles smaller?"

"With the five of us and April eating, that'd take forever."

"Use the bowtie. They're flat, and would give the same effect as egg noodles."

"I guess," Mikey shrugged. "It's just..."

Sensing something was wrong, Donnie leaned in letting Mikey know he had his brother's undivided attention without saying a word.

"It's just cooking's the only thing I'm really good at, you know. I don't want to screw up dinner, and make everyone think I can't even do THAT right."

This wasn't the first time Mikey had had doubts about his abilities. However, it HAD been a very long time since those doubts had popped up, and it was the first time ever Mikey had had doubts about his cooking skills.

"Mike, you're not going to screw up dinner. You're a fabulous cook," Mikey gave his brother a skeptical look. "If you use something nontraditional in a recipe, it's because we don't have the listed ingredients, not because you don't know what you're doing. Everyone trusts that whatever you make will be delicious every time, because it always has been."

Mikey grabbed Donnie so fast it took the genius turtle by surprise. "Thanks, bro."

Although it was not unusual for him to seek comfort from one of his brothers when his confidence was shaken, it was unusual for Mikey to be upset to the point he was shaking. Mikey trembling only happened when the youngest turtle was scared, really scared, one of his brothers on the brink of dying kind of scared.

"Mikey, is something else bothering you?"

"No, just afraid of fucking everything up."

Things just kept getting stranger and stranger. Swear words coming from Mikey's mouth were as rare as swear words coming from Leo's. Master Splinter was more apt to swear than Mikey. Donnie had warning bells going off all over the place.

"You're not a screw-up, Mikey," he said softly. "You never have been."

"What about all those times..."

"No," Donnie's interruption was a good indication of how worried the genius was becoming over Mikey's unusual behavior. "You have NEVER been a screw-up. You've been inexperienced, and learning just like the rest of us, but never a screw-up."

Mikey pulled his arms back from around Donnie's shell, sandwiching them between himself and his olive toned brother. He hated feeling like this, like he couldn't do anything right. As if everything wrong in the world was personally his fault. He knew it wasn't true, that Donnie was right. All those times Mikey had messed up, he had been young and learning, just like his brothers, but ever so often, from out of the blue those doubts popped up, making him feel as if he was six years-old again, and completely incapable of doing anything right.

And just like when he was six, there was Donnie, picking up the pieces of Mikey's broken confidence, and putting them back together with the precision born of a brother's love.

Mikey didn't want to think about what would happen to him if he didn't have Donnie.

 

Worry and confusion won out over whatever else Leo and Raph were feeling the second the two oldest entered the kitchen and found Donatello holding a very distraught Michelangelo. Donnie glanced up, looking upset as well.

With Raph's near breakdown still fresh in his mind, and fearing the worse, Leo hurried across the room. "What happened?" he asked, placing a hand on Mikey's carapace.

A smile tugged at the corners of Donnie's mouth as Leo rubbed small circles over Mikey's shell. He wondered if big brother realized he always did that when one of them was upset. "Mikey didn't have what he needed for dinner, and felt he would be seen as..."

As Donnie searched for the right word best to describe how Mikey felt without making his little brother feel worse, Mikey decided to lend an assist. "A fucking screw-up," he muttered.

Leo's hand paused in it's movements. Raph's mouth dropped open.

"What brought dat on, bro?" Raph gently rubbed the back of Mikey's head.

Mikey tried to press himself deeper into Donnie. "Didn't have the stuff I needed. Shoulda planned better."

Mikey's brothers looked at one another, thinking the exact same thing. Master Splinter had invited April to dinner less than two hours ago. How could Mikey have known he needed to plan for anything?

"What..." Mikey flinched at the sound of Leo's voice. "Mikey," Leo tired again in a gentler voice. "What did you plan for dinner?" 

"Beef stroganoff."

"Why?"

Raph started to protest, but stopped when Leo held up his hand. Big brother was going somewhere with this.

"The steaks needed to be cooked, and I didn't want the mushrooms to go bad."

"Why?"

Mikey turned his head just enough to scowl at his oldest brother, "Because that cost us a lot of money, Leo. I didn't want to just toss it in the trash."

Hazel eyes shown with amusement, but Leo managed to kept a straight face. "Mikey, do you realize what you just told me indicates skill, and knowledge about what you were doing?"

Mikey leaned back, pushing away from Donnie, with the most incredulous look on his face. "Yeah. I... I guess it does," he grinned.

With utter catastrophe twice now averted, Leo breathed a sigh of relief. Unfortunately, it was very short lived.  
   
"Leo, ya see what I see," Raph growled, tipping his head towards the door.

Leo looked over, and relieved was the last thing he was feeling. He wanted to swear.  
   
Sitting on the edge of the butcher block table Mikey kept by the door was another garden gnome.

"I'm pretty sure I already know the answer, but Mikey, did YOU put that there?"

Mikey's eyes widened, seeing the gnome sitting on the table. "No way, bro. I've been in the kitchen having a nervous breakdown, remember?"

"Mikey's right, Leo. He and I have been in here the entire time," Donnie added. "Neither one of us left."

"There was one in the dojo by the door too."

"It wasn't me. That's too lame for a prankster of my caliber." Mikey didn't think he had been upset to the point of hallucinations, but he would have sworn that thing's eyebrows moved from happy to frowning.

"If da two a ya were in here, an' me an' Leo were in da dojo, den who took doze t'in's outta da chest? Cuz when I went ta put da one we found back, da chest was empty."

"Master Splinter maybe?" Mikey shrugged. "He's been known to pull a few pranks in his time."

"It couldn't have been him, Mikey. Sensei went to his room to meditate before Leo and Raph went into the dojo. They would have heard him when he came out, and if by some chance," Donnie shot his two older brothers a knowing smirk. "They were NOT to notice Sensei leaving his room, you would have seen him from your position by the stove."

"Then how'd they get out of the chest? They're just ceramic figurines. They can't walk by themselves." Mikey frowned. It looked like that creepy little thing was smirking now.

As his brothers discussed the mystery of how the gnomes had escaped the chest, Leo noticed something disturbing about the gnome from the dojo and the one on the table. He picked the little figure up off the table, turning it over in his hands. "Raph, what color was the hat on that gnome in the dojo?"

"I dunno. Red I t'ink. Why?"

"You got upset, and the gnome had a red hat," Leo's eyes narrowed as he stared hard at the little figure in his hands. "Mikey got upset, and this one has an orange hat." To Leo it looked as if the gnome's facial expression had changed from one of superiority to one of angry challenge. "It's almost as if their hat color was connected to both of you somehow." But it was an inanimate object. Changing it's expression was impossible... wasn't it?

"I guess we know who the smart one is! Don't we?"

Faster than was physically possible, the ceramic gnome Leo held sprang to life, pulling a thin metal sliver from inside it's overalls and slashing the blue banded ninja across the beak. Leo yelped in pain, flinging the animated figurine away from him as hard as he could.

"What da HELL!"

"They're possessed!"

"Leo, let me see," Donnie tried to pull his brother's hands away from the wound.

There was something more important to attend to than Leo's injury. "Guys, did any of those things have a brown hat!?"

Leo brother's caught on immediately. "Master Splinter!" they shouted in unison, running from the kitchen.

 

Splinter knelt in a circle of candles and incense, his body still and unguarded as his mind soared the astral plane. To anyone looking in, it appeared as if the aged rat was sound asleep while sitting up, which was exactly what the owner of the small pair of eyes peeking under the door to the ninja master's bedroom thought.

Splinter had been far more concerned about the energy surrounding the chest his sons had found in the junkyard than he let on. There was something very familiar about those energies. Something he had encountered during his former life as a simple rat living with his master Yoshi in the home of the Ancient One. Whatever that something Splinter could not fully remember was, he knew it was something to be feared.

As he moved through the uniform oneness of the plane, Splinter extended his spiritual awareness searching for his deceased master. Having been a simple minded creature when he first experienced those energies, Splinter's perspective had been influenced by not the intelligence he now had, but by the survival instincts of a rat. Splinter hoped his master Yoshi would be able to advise him, having had a different perspective.

After a time, which felt equally like a mere moment as well as an eternity, Splinter realized his master Yoshi was currently beyond his reach, but the aged rat did find the next best thing, Tang Shen. His master's love sat beneath a cherry tree, watching the sky above her as pink and white blossoms drifted through the air.

As he drew closer, Tang Shen looked his way, smiling warmly. "Greetings, Splinter," she bowed her head. "I have been expecting you."

Greetings, Tang Shen," Splinter gently landed beside her, and bowed in return. "I am very pleased to see you, though I was hoping to speak with my master."

"He was unable to meet with you, and asked me to be here in his stead."

"I thank you for that," Splinter bowed his head again. "Are you aware of what brings me here?"

"Yes," Tang Shen nodded, her expression grim. "Your family is in grave danger, my friend."

Splinter's eyes grew wide. "This danger, it comes from the chest my sons found?"

"No," Tang Shen shook her head. "It comes from the objects inside."

"How can this be?" Splinter frowned in confusion. "Those objects are simple decorations. Ugly yes, but of no true danger."

"The danger does not lie within the objects themselves, but rather in the spirits that inhabit those objects."

Tang Shen passed her hand over the surface of a large stone which lay half buried in the ground beside the cherry tree. Splinter knew the stone well, having sat and drank tea with his master Yoshi using the stone as their table many times. Now the surface of the stone turned liquid, as if someone had coated the hard exterior with mercury.

"In ancient times, oni roamed the lands," Tang Shen continued. "Many were evil, caring nothing for the humans they tormented, torturing them relentlessly with unfounded fears and destroying their confidence with doubts of their self worth. Oftentimes to the point of self destruction."

Splinter watched as images of indescribably hideous creatures flashed across the surface of the stone. He cringed, seeing the atrocities the oni committed against defenseless people. It made the rat's heart ache, and his blood boil.

"There were also kind, caring spirits who sought to end the evil oni's reign of terror upon the land." The image shifted again, showing shy, gentle beings healing wounds and providing for those who had lost their homes and loved ones to the evil spirits that tormented them. "The spirits engaged the oni in battle many times; sometimes winning, but oftentimes losing." An image of a furious battle filled the mirrored surface. "As legend has it, a great and mighty warrior journeyed to the land, only to be attacked by the oni. The spirits found him injured in the forest, and revived him. As he healed, the spirits told of their eternal battle with the oni, and begged the warrior for his help. He did, but not in the manner in which the spirits anticipated."

Within the surface of the stone, Splinter watched the warrior carve dozens of small wooden dolls, giving them hair from shredded tree bark, and clothes made from grasses and reeds.

"When the warrior had enough vessels, he sent the spirits to find the oni. When both sides were engaged in battle, he cast a spell imprisoning the oni inside the wooden dolls he had created. Unfortunately, the good spirits were captured as well. It was a sacrifice they gladly made."

Slowly the images faded from view, and the surface of the stone returned to it's original state.

"Am I to understand spirits, both good and evil, reside within the objects stored inside the chest?"

Tang Shen nodded, confirming Splinter's worst fear.

"I do not understand how these spirits can pose a threat to my family," Splinter scowled at the stone thoughtfully. "They are imprisoned within objects that cannot move. If we avoid these objects, the beings within can do no harm."

"Over time, the oni learned how to manipulate the vessels that held them through their magic. The spirits had this knowledge from the beginning, choosing not to use it, for fear the oni would imitate them. Their caution, however, was in vain." 

"My sons believe those things to be harmless! They are as defenseless as the humans of the past! By coming here, I have abandoned them!" Splinter sprang to his feet, looking around frantically, with no idea what he was searching for. "What... what kind of father am I to abandon my sons?" He jumped when Tang Shen touched his arm.

"Calm yourself, Splinter. There is no danger to you here, but be warned, one of the oni watches you now, working it's evil magic. Go! Save your family!"

In the time it took between one heartbeat and the next, Splinter returned to his body. Upon opening his eyes, he immediately felt an overwhelming sense of failure.

He was a horrible father! How could he, a mere rat, have thought he had the capability to raise children?! The bodies of his four sons were littered in the evidence of his failure in the scars of battle they carried. He failed to keep them safe! How they must hate him!

Splinter's eyes burned, his heart breaking. His sons must surely hate him. He had tried. He had tried to raise them, give them love and purpose, but in the end, they were mutants in a world of humans. His precious sons would never know anything but hate and fear. He had failed in the one thing all parents MUST do... give their children a future.

He. Had. FAILED!

The ninja master looked around his room, his eyes landing on the one object that could rectify all of his mistakes. He could do nothing about his failures of the past, but he could do something about failing his sons in the future.

His sons would no longer suffer for his inadequacy. 

Long, thin fingers tightened around the handle of the tanto hanging on the wall. He pulled the blade from it's scabbard as a low, malevolent chuckle filled the room. 

He would do the honorable thing.

Splinter's ears twitched, hearing the unfamiliar sound in his room. Something about it reminded the rat of a time long ago. It mattered little now.

He raised the blade to his chest, yanking his kimono open with his free hand.

His failure would be erased.

Taking a deep breath, Splinter pulled the blade back to full arm's length.

His honor restored.

He closed his eyes, a single tear dampening the fur at one corner.

His sons set free.

"FATHER!"

 

A scream of pure rage tore through the air when Leo literally ripped the door from it's hinges. 

With ninja quick reflexes, Raph pushed Donnie and Mikey behind him as a flash of silver flew past. The blade of Splinter's tanto buried itself in the stone floor outside his room, missing a fleeing brown blur by millimeters.

"Are you alright!?"

Splinter's sons crowded into the room, surrounding their father, and inundating him with fearful looks and hesitant touches.

"I am fine, my sons," Splinter's voice shook with emotion as he touched each of his sons, trying to reassure himself his fears were not real. "Because of you, I am fine," he murmured.

"You-you weren't going to... kill yourself... were you, Sensei?" Mikey asked, holding tight to his father.

Splinter tenderly cupped his son's cheek, the fur under his eyes looking suspiciously damp. "I cannot say for certain, my son. But know this, you and your brothers have saved me."

Mikey smiled at his father, blinking fast at the tears stinging his eyes.

"Were you able to learn anything about these... THINGS, Master Splinter?" Donnie asked, looking around the room anxiously. "Because all we've been able to determine is they're fast, and mean."

Splinter hastily scrubbed a hand over his eyes. "They are possessed by ancient demons who feed on the spirits of humans."

"We're not humans," Mikey huffed indignantly. "We're TURTLES!"

"I don't t'ink it much matters, knucklehead."

"How do we destroy them, Sensei?" A fire burned in the depths of Leo's hazel eyes. "These things have went after three of us so far. I'm not giving them the chance to try for the other two." 

Leo was out for demon blood.

"Tang Shen did not say," Splinter sighed. "There are several parts of her tale I do not understand."

"What did she say, Sensei." Donnie looked out into the main room of the lair, searching for any sign of their enemy. "Maybe we can help you figure it out."

Seeing the determined looks on the faces of his sons, Splinter felt an overwhelming sense of pride. "Very well," he nodded. "Legend has it, a traveling warrior was beseeched by the eternal enemy of the oni to help defeat the evil ones. The warrior created figures made of wood, then during a battle between the oni and the good spirits he trapped them all inside the wooden dolls he had made."

"Ceramic gnomes aren't much different from wooden dolls, when you think about it," Mikey mused. "They're both made from natural substances. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"But how do dey move?" Raph cast a worried glance at the door. "Wood an' clay figures don't move on dere own, an' dese t'ings are all over da place."

"According to Tang Shen, the oni manipulated their magic to become mobile."

"My question is, how did they go from being trapped inside wooden dolls to clay figurines?" Leo glanced out the door, having traded places with Donatello.

"Given enough time, wood would have deteriorated," Donnie pointed out. "Perhaps another sorcerer discovered the dolls, determining their purpose, and saw the possibility of the demons' escape. He could have created new vessels to hold them."

"Garden gnomes are a rather modern creation, Don. Wouldn't the wood have rotted away long before the twentieth century?" Leo asked.

"It happened more than once?"

"Maybe they learned how to change the shape of whatever vessel they were in, and changed into garden gnomes when they became popular. Less suspicious that way," Mikey scowled at the blank looks from his brothers. "I read a lot of comic books! Stuff like that happens all the time in the supernatural ones!"

"If they figured out how to move, it wouldn't take much more manipulation to change the shape of their bodies. It's basically the same process," Donnie quickly warmed to his brother's theory. "A later sorcerer found the dolls, and transferred the demons into clay objects. Over time, the demons changed their shape to better hide in our modern culture. It's all hypothesis, but the theory's sound."

"Magic is a forgotten science in this era," Splinter sighed. "I doubt there has been anyone with the skill to preform such delicate and intricate castings for several centuries."

"What 'bout da Foot? Dey got magic users."

"Not even the Foot Clan's Elite have the skills for magic such as this."

"Someone did," Leo growled, growing frustrated. "Who would know, Sensei? The Ancient One, maybe?"

"Perhaps..." Splinter mused. "However, we do not have the luxury of time to contact him."

"The good guys would know," Mikey suddenly found himself once again the center of attention. "Wouldn't they?"

A smile spread across Splinter's face. "Yes! Tang Shen did say the good spirits had the magical knowledge to become mobile while the oni did not. They chose to remain immobile fearing the oni would imitate their magic! Michelangelo may very well be right!"

"How do we know who's who dough?" Raph growled, joining his older brother guarding the door. "So far every one a doze little fuckers we see try ta take us out!"

"The color of their hats," Donnie said.

"Yeah!" Mikey piped up. "There were ones with red, orange, brown, blue, purple, green, pink, and white hats in the chest!"

"It would be safe to assume the ones with hats the same color as our bandanas are NOT the ones we're searching for," Leo let fly a kunai into the living room.

"Fast little bastards, ain't dey?"

A low growl emanated from Leo's throat, but otherwise, the leader made no reply.

"Guys, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but whatever we plan on doing, we need to do it fast," Donnie checked his watch, looking grim. "April's going to be here in less than two hours."

"Turtle luck at it's finest!" Raph growled, throwing a shuriken. This time they were rewarded with a small snapping sound followed by a shriek of pain. "T'ink I winged one!"

"Here's hoping we wing a few more. Any ideas on where to look for these good gnomes?" Leo asked, pulling his swords.

"Garage, or lab," Mikey grinned, spinning his nunchucks.

"Why those two places, my son?" Splinter glanced up at Mikey, sliding a sword into his belt.

"Best place to torture someone," Mikey shot Raph a sly wink, then grinned at Donnie. "Lots of rope, and stuff to... BREAK... things with."

Donnie's face turned about three shades darker from embarrassment.

"O-okay," Leo rubbed a hand down his face trying to suppress his snickers. "We split into two groups. Raph, you and Donnie take the lab. Father and Mikey come with me. We three will take the garage since it's bigger. Whichever group finds the right colored gnome first, buzz the other."

"Lots of buzz-y things in the garage, bro," Mikey grinned at Leo.

"Not in MY presence, Michelangelo, if you please."

"Oh, sorry, Sensei." Mikey didn't really sound very sincere in his apology.

As the clan moved cautiously through the main room, Donnie happened to notice the lid of the chest was fully open. Inside was a small piece of blue colored ceramic along with Raph's throwing star.

"We now know these things can't just reabsorb pieces once they break off."

"Maybe that's how we defeat them," Leo took the piece Donnie held. "If they can't put themselves back together once broken, we just break them."

"The spirits will hopefully know for sure. I suggest we continue our search for them."

Splinter cautiously moved towards the stairs leading to the garage elevator. As he placed his foot on the first riser, the unmistakable sound of metal moving through air at high speed came from somewhere along the upper level balcony.

"Sensei, look out!" Raph shouted.

The emerald brawler's warning wasn't needed. Splinter's sharp hearing had picked up on the sound seconds before his sons: just enough time for the ninja master to react. 

Splinter pushed off the riser, executing an impressive back flip to land several feet away from the stairs. He swung his staff in a wide arc in front of him, and was rewarded with a dull thud, and a furious shriek.

A broken piece of  metal was imbedded in the wood just under the handgrip of the aged rat's walking stick.

"They're not playing around anymore," Mikey muttered. "I guess when Raph hit that one with his shuriken, it raised the ante."

No one was pleased with that thought.

"This isn't just any piece of metal, guys," Donnie pulled the sliver from Splinter's staff. "It's the end piece of a switchblade."

"Donnie, how do you know that?" Leo looked at his genius brother, frowning.

"I've found several in the junkyard over the years," Donnie shrugged. "The blades are easy to recognize if you know the dimensions."

"Define several."

"About twenty," Donnie grinned at Leo. "Want one... or two?"

Leo stared back at his brother. "Sometimes, Donnie, you worry me... a LOT."

"Try raising the four of you," Splinter deadpanned.

 

The garage was rarely quiet. One of the four brothers could usually be found in there working on one project or another at almost any given hour of the day or night, depending on the project, and the brother. Now, the space was eerily quiet.

It wasn't the kind of quiet you would expect in a Halloween haunted house, or at a surprise party right before the unsuspecting victim walks in. This was the kind of quiet that precedes death. The kind of quiet Leo knew on an intimate level. It was the kind of quiet the blue banded ninja wrapped around himself when stalking his prey.

Only this time, Leo was the prey.

Hazel eyes flicked to Mikey and Splinter, checking to make sure father and brother were both alright. A humorless smile curled Leo's mouth. He really hoped those demons felt the cold trapped inside those clay bodies, because he was about to give them all kinds of hot.

In the deepest pits of Hell.

Leo caught the slight rise of Mikey's eyeridge, silently asking where the orange banded ninja should check next. Leo tipped his head towards the van and nodded once. Mikey returned the nod, heading for the vehicle. Splinter was still searching the sink area, and the storage lockers Donnie kept there.

Good. With his father and brother searching relatively safe areas, Leo could check the more dangerous spaces himself, the areas where Donnie kept the welder and the air compressors, and the storage shelves filled with spare parts and hand tools.

On feet as silent as death, Leo approached the cage where the welder was kept. He paused. The cage door was slightly ajar, and Leo knew for a fact Donnie kept it locked at all times. It wasn't that Donnie didn't trust his brothers, he did. When they were sober.

Donatello had to resort to more drastic security measures after Raphael and Casey came home shit faced drunk one night, and decided to weld two of the spare motorcycles Donnie kept on hand for emergencies to the top of the van. The Drunken Duo had proclaimed it WAS an emergency, and had to be done! If the van was ever in a roll over, the motorcycles on top would ensure they could keep moving and capture the evil doers, bringing them to a swift and deserving justice!

Raph became an extension of every hero from every movie the emerald turtle had ever seen when he got drunk. It was pretty funny when Raph thought he was Batman and Harry Dunne at the same time. Donnie wasn't laughing.

Several things happened that night.

Donnie caged the welder, and a few other specialty tools just in case the Drunken Duo decided to make a reappearance some night with another brilliantly stupid idea.

Splinter realized his sons were old enough to clean up after themselves when they threw up for reasons other than sickness due to a virus or bad shrimp. Loving fathers would only do so much, but pissed off Ninjitsu instructors cooked three day old sweaty gym socks and week old dead skunks in the microwave with a fan blowing the god awful stench upstairs to the bedrooms of their hung over sons at six in the morning.

It had been nothing more than fish and garlic Splinter had cooked, but no one could convince Raph of that. 

Leo discovered his emerald brother knew the definition of the word 'ensure', and could use it correctly in a sentence when drunk.

Mikey found out he got the hiccups after thirty minutes of uproarious laughter, but was miraculously cured when forced to clean the bathroom by his very pissed off father after his drunk brother got sick in there.

And Casey found out he could take a solid hit upside his head with a non-stick skillet from April, and stay on his feet, although he forgot that fact the next morning in the face of April's hang over cure which consisted of beet juice mixed with the liquid from three cans of sardines. That were fried and served on toast at breakfast.

All in all, it was a very educational night. Messy, but educational.

Leo quickly searched the floor near the cage for the lock. He didn't find it, but he did see a puddle of melted metal lying under the open door. Keeping a good portion of his senses trained on the cage area, Leo turned away, heading for the shelves where Donnie kept spare parts and essential hardware. Whichever color gnome had melted the lock and entered the cage was probably not the color gnome they were needing right now.

Or maybe it was. Leo froze in mid-step. He glanced back over his shoulder at the cage. Maybe a good gnome HAD entered the cage, it would have access to weapons to defend itself against the oni. It would be safer in there.

A good warrior would have checked.

Leo turned back towards the cage. Was the door open wider?

He could right now be walking away from the very thing needed to save his family.

A good leader protected those under him.

Slowly, Leo walked back to the cage. Did Donnie always have those wires lying on the floor inside the cage like that? Up against the metal? Wasn't there something Donnie had once told them about electricity? Why couldn't he remember?

It was his responsibility to protect his brothers. He was the oldest. His father was old, becoming weak and feeble. It was his responsibility as head of the clan to keep his family safe. If he didn't search the cage, he would be failing in that responsibility.

He would be acting dishonorably.

As if in a fog, Leo raised his hand, reaching for the door.

The buzzing of his shell cell snapped Leo out of his mental fog. As the sword wielder reached for his phone, an angry growl rolled out from inside the cage.

"Hey, Leo! Donnie texted! Says he found all three of 'em!"

"I got it," Leo called back, giving the cage one final look before turning away. "Let's head down, but don't drop your guard! There's at least one in here, and probably others!"

"How do you know this, my son?" Splinter was with Mikey by the door, waiting for Leo to join them.

"Because I know for a fact I'm an excellent warrior. We all are," Leo placed a hand on Mikey's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.  "And protecting my family has always been my number one priority. I would die before I did anything dishonorable, and failed in that." Leo grinned down at his father. "But most of all, I know beyond of a shadow of a doubt that even though you're older, Father, you are NOT weak, or feeble."

"I should think not," Splinter snorted amidst Mikey's chuckles.

"Oh," Leo held a hand up, blocking the doorway. "Don't go near the welder cage until Donnie has a chance to look at it."

"Why not, bro?"

"It's electrically charged. The gnome that went after me, wanted to electrocute me."

 

"Where are they at, Donnie?" Leo demanded, entering his brother's domain.

Donnie held his hands up, making calming motions. "Don't get your hopes up, Leo. It's not as good as we'd hoped for."

"What has happened?" Splinter's voice reflected the worry on Leo's face.

Raph stepped aside, revealing a pile of broken pottery lying on the floor.

"Please, tell me that's not all three," Leo groaned.

"It's not all three," Raph sighed.

"But...?"

"The third one is in kind of an impossible place to get to," Donnie said. "Or rather to get OUT of."

Leo frowned. "You're not making any sense, Don."

"It'll make more sense if I just show you." Donnie motioned for the newcomers to follow him over to the small, open shower installed in a back corner of the lab. "See for yourself."

At the bottom edge of the shower wall, near the corner of the lab was a small hole about half the size of Leo's open palm. The blue banded ninja knelt down, peering into the darkness.

"Here," Donnie handed Leo a small penlight flashlight. "You'll need this."

Using the flashlight, Leo looked again. The only thing he saw was a pair of feet, connected one to each other in the middle.

"How...? WHY...? Whu...?"

"He can be taught! Genius got the where!"

Leo blinked. "What did you say!?"

"Genius was obviously the wrong word to use."

"Asshole," Raph growled.

"I got one! But obviously YOU don't because you're full of shit!"

"I kind of like him," Mikey chuckled.

"Finally! Someone with some brains! Now get me out of this damned hole!"

"Why did you go in there in the first place?"

Donnie winced when Leo asked that. You didn't need to be a genius to know his brother wasn't going to like the gnome's answer one bit.

"I was checking for black mold, fool! Why do you think!?"

"Did you find any?" Leo deadpanned.

No one said a thing for several heartbeats, then the gnome began speaking rapidly in several different languages.

"I know how he feels," Raph said, scratching at his chin. "I've cussed ya in every language I know a few times too."

"I wonder how many he's got going on there?" Mikey grinned.

"Seven, that I know," Donnie was trying not to laugh, and doing a fairly good job of it.

"Ten, that I know," Splinter said.

That was Donnie's undoing. And everyone else's.

"Are you done?" Leo asked, during a slightly longer than normal pause in the swearing.

The unmistakable sound of flatulence was heard coming from the hole. "I am now!"

"How does a spirit trapped in a ceramic figurine pass gas?" Mikey whispered to Raph.

"I ain't askin'."

Mikey nodded sagely. "Might be wise."

With one last amused snicker, Leo shook his head. "Donnie, suggestions?"

"Not that I can see. The wall support is on one side, and the water line is on the other. The only space we can open up is above him."

"Rip it out, an' pull him up like openin' a beer can."

Donnie nodded. "Good call, Raph. That might work."

Splinter looked at his emerald son, sighed, and shook his head. Grinning sheepishly, Raph just shrugged.

From the deep, dark recesses of the lab, Donnie produced two sledgehammers, and a pry bar. Raph and Leo made short work of opening the space above the gnome as Donnie padded the curved end of the crowbar.

"You scratch my paint, I'm going to be pissed!"

"We can leave you there, if you wish," Splinter said.

The gnome let loose with another string of multiple language curses.

"We shall begin as soon as you shut up."

They didn't need mutant ninja hearing to hear the pop when the gnome snapped his mouth closed.

With a sound similar to fingernails on a chalkboard, Donnie slowly pried the gnome up, flipping him out from between the water pipe and support beam onto the floor Mikey had thoughtfully padded beforehand.

The gnome jumped to his feet with amazing speed, and, glaring for all he was worth, tugged his shirt down, shifting until it was comfortably situated on his body. "Thank you," he said grudgingly.

"Let's cut to the chase," Leo said, giving as good as he got. "How do we stop the oni?"

The gnomes mouth immediately dropped open. He stared at Leo as if the leaf green turtle had sprouted three more heads. "You did not seriously just ask me that."

Leo lips pressed into a thin line, his eyeridges furrowing.

The gnome rolled his eyes, shaking his head. He flipped his hands to point at the pile of shattered ceramics lying on the floor. "Would you like for me to draw you a picture?"

Leo's hand twitched. It took conscious effort for the ninja leader not to reach for his swords.

"We were right," Mikey fist pumped. "We break 'em, they buy it!"

"Not entirely." All eyes turned back to the gnome. "Breaking them just stops them temporarily. They'll eventually reassemble, and when they do, not only do you have a demon running around in a stupid ass, pop art, clay body, you have a PISSED OFF demon running around in a stupid ass, pop art, clay body." He turned to Raph. "Azure is pretty pissed at YOU already."

"Azure can kiss my ass." Raph sneered, twirling his sai.

"Can we please focus here?" Leo massaged the skin between his eyes. "Exactly what do we need to do to confine these things so they no longer pose a threat to anyone?"

Leo and the gnome stared at one another, each with the same contemplative look on his face.

"Do you really think you stand a chance in defeating the oni?" the gnome asked.

"I have no idea what our chances are of defeating these things, but I fully intend to try."

The conviction in Leo's voice reminded the spirit gnome of something from long ago. He liked this turtle. This turtle had honor.

Honor was a rare thing in this day and age.

"To render them harmless, you have to confine them to the chest. To confine them to the chest, you have to remove their ability to move."

"So we break 'em into a million pieces, den sweep 'em up an' lock 'em back in da box. Piece a cake!" Eager for some payback, Raph headed for the lab door.

"It won't be that easy," the gnome called after him.

Hand on the door handle, Raph stopped. "Jus' why not?"

"They're faster than you, or haven't you noticed?" the gnome smirked. "Plus if they try for you and miss, they run. Right now they are all over this place. You have to lure them to one place."

"Someplace we would have the advantage," Leo mused.

"Bathroom."

"I don't t'ink day need ta take a crap, Mikey."

The resulting silence was broken by the sound of someone passing gas without a care in the world for WHO heard it. Everyone looked at the gnome.

"My belly feels so much better," the gnome grinned back.

"Must be a teenager," Splinter mumbled.

"Why do you say that, Sensei?" The things Splinter knew never ceased to amaze Mikey, and the sea green turtle just KNEW it had to be some mystical revelation his father used to determine the age of the spirit inhabiting the gnome.

"He acts like the four of you did at fifteen."

Mikey felt somewhat disappointed hearing that.

Leo's head throbbed. He was so going to take a pain pill the size of a dinner plate when this was over with. "Mikey, why the bathroom?"

"Fewer places for them to hide. Nothing really they can use for a weapon. And we'd have the advantage of picking the place, and stripping it down to our benefit."

"How do we keep them confined to the room?" Donnie asked. "As soon as they realize it's a trap, they'll try to get away. We need to confine them to whatever room we decide on some way."

"Barricade the door?"

"That will not work, Michelangelo," Splinter watched the gnome, his whiskers twitching. "These are mystical beings. They can only be confined by mystical means."

The gnome nodded approvingly. "You'll need the confinement bindings from the chest."

"Confinement bindings from da chest? What're doze?"

The gnome frowned. "The cloths from the chest? The ones that had the binding spells written on them?"

"You mean those rags?" Mikey looked confused. "We tossed those in the garage."

"Tell me you still have them!"

"Can the oni destroy them?" Leo asked. The gnome shook his head. "They should still be in the garage then. We thought they were just cloths used as padding, and kept them to wrap the gnomes in if our friend wanted them for her shop."

The gnome stuck a hand under his cap, scratching his head. "You didn't know they were bindings," he muttered. He directed his next question at Leo. "Did you KNOW what was inside the chest when you opened it?"

The leaf green turtle shook his head. "How could we?"

"The warnings on the lock, stupid!"

"We couldn't read them." Donnie scowled. "The language was beyond recorded history."

"In other words, you had no idea what was inside when you opened the chest?" Leo nodded slowly. "So, it was an... ACCIDENT!?" The gnome fell over in hysterical laughter. "Here they thought they were being freed by a sorcerer of like mind to enslave the world! That's rich! Man, are THEY going to be pissed when they find this out!"

"I t'ink we outta break dis pain-in-da-ass's head, an' be done wid it!" Raph growled. "We already know what to do!"

"Let us not act prematurely, my son. I feel there is more to this than we know."

"The rat's right there!" The gnome rolled over into a sitting position, and wiped his eyes. "I haven't laughed that hard in forever! Well, for whatever the reason, the deed is done, but there are only two people who can open that lock. Since you had no idea how to read the warnings, then you have to be related to the warrior who confined the oni in the first place."

"Unless this warrior was a turtle, I seriously doubt we could be," Donnie hated stating the obvious to someone who should obviously know better.

"I don't remember his name, if I ever knew it to begin with, but this was his symbol."

Taking a piece of charcoal from his pocket, the gnome drew a very familiar symbol on the lab floor. The symbol for the Hamato clan.

"Well, I'll be damned." Raph said.

That was pretty much everyone else's sentiment too.

"This may have just gotten a whole lot easier." The gnome looked genuinely pleased. "The oni won't pass up the chance to strike back at the one who imprisoned them. It won't take them long to get here once they pick up on THAT energy."

"Here's the plan. We go to the garage. Sensei, you enter a meditative trance. Let the oni know we are descendants of the ancient warrior, and find those binding cloths by pinpointing their energy. When Father locates the cloths, Mikey and Donnie go after them. Raph and I will bring up the chest."

"What happened to the bathroom plan, bro?" Mikey looked almost panicky.

"The cloths are in the garage," Leo pointed out. "And we're running out of time." A nod from Donnie was confirmation enough.

"Fine," Mikey huffed. "But somewhere in all that we need to make a bathroom run. I gotta go."

 

"Raph, set the chest over there, and stick close to it. Father won't have to worry about the binding energies near you, because he'll know those are from the fleece already in the chest."

Leo checked the large open space in the center of the garage where the brothers had left the cloths, and as expected, found nothing. He joined his brothers, forming a loose circle facing outward around a meditating Splinter.

"This freaking anyone else out, or just me?" Mikey asked nervously, eyes darting around.

"Not just you, Mikey." Donnie shifted his hold on his bo staff. "This quiet is... unsettling."

From the farthest, shadowy corner a mocking laugh rang out. It stopped as suddenly as it began, only to be picked up in another section of the garage.

"I liked the quiet better than THAT," Mikey muttered.

A  cacophony of noise filled the air. The sound of screws and nails falling from the overhead beams onto the cement floor. The hiss of pressurized air being released. The bang of metal on metal. The screech of heavy metal being dragged.

"Focus team! Be ready for anything!" Leo's warning came at just the right time. A rain of tiny metal projectiles flew at them from all directions. "Protect Sensei!" Leo winced, taking a nail in his shoulder. "Give him time to find those cloths!"

Deep in his trance, Splinter was unaware of the attack upon his sons. He spiritually searched the garage space for the energies of the binding cloths. He immediately found one, but ignored it, sensing the fiery blaze of energy that was Raphael standing over it.

Several dark energies were also scattered throughout the garage. Splinter recognized them to be evil oni. One hovered directly above Mikey, something small, but compact in it's hands.

"Michelangelo, above you, my son!"

Mikey spun to the left just in time to avoid one of Donnie's short handled, automotive hammers dropped from the overhead beams. "Thanks, Sensei!"

As he spun, Mikey extended his foot, catching the hammer on top of his toes. He flipped it up into the air. At the top of the hammer's ascent, with a spinning back kick, Mikey sent the hammer flying to intercept a circular saw blade aimed at the back of Donnie's head.

"Hope that wasn't a good one, dude!"

"Given the circumstances, Mikey," Donnie side stepped several screws fired in rapid succession to help Raph deflect lightbulbs aimed at their father. "I don't much care whether it is or not!"

Splinter's eyes snapped open. "Leonardo! The bindings are behind the old generators Donatello keeps for parts!"

"Damn! Of all da places dey coulda picked ta hide 'em, dey picked da worst place possible!"

Leo couldn't agree more. "Raph, you go with Donnie and get those cloths! The rest of us will try to lure these things out!"

"Puny mortal! You dare call us THINGS!? We are demons! Great and powerful! With the strength to turn your worthless planet to ash!"

Leo blinked. No way. It couldn't possibly be THAT easy. He turned to the spirit gnome. "They're offended by... INSULTS!?"

The gnome shrugged. "Who knew?"

"Change of plans! Raph you stay here with Mikey and Sensei! Draw the oni out and smash them!"

"Leo, dat's da stupidest t'in' I ever heard! It took a block an' tackle ta move some a dem generators back dere! Yer not strong enough ta move 'em!" Raph flicked his sai at a three-fourths inch deep well socket heading his way, to send it sailing back the way it had come. "Have ya lost yer mind!?"

"I'm doing what every good leader does, putting the best man on the job," Leo couldn't help smirking. "Since you and Mikey are the best at insults, you get your wish, Raph. Just think of all the things you've ever wanted to say to me, and cut loose!" Leo reached down, picking the spirit gnome up by the hat. "You're coming with us."

Leo and Donnie, along with the spirit gnome headed for the back of the garage, and Mikey looked at his red banded brother. "Is he serious? We insult them?"

"One way ta find out," Raph grinned. "HEY! Rocks fer brains! Ya throw like a girl wid two broken arms!"

"Girl? GIRL!? You call me GIRL! I am the great and mighty demon..."

Snickering, Mikey nudged his brawler brother. Scowling, Raph looked where Mikey was pointing, and started snickering himself. Out from under the van walked the smallest gnome that had been in the chest. Raph doubted the thing measured four inches if that.

"Watch my back," Raph whispered to his brother before stepping out to meet the diminutive threat. "Hey, RUNT!" Raph poked the tiny gnome in the belly, stopping it's progress and it's rant. "Yer not so tough. My limp cock's bigger dan YOU!" He poked the gnome on the end of it's nose for good measure.

Mikey saw it coming. He knew it was going to happen; Raph had underestimated his opponent. Mikey opened his mouth to shout a warning to his brawler brother, but was too late.

Splinter flattened his ears when his emerald son howled in pain. Raph jumped up, flicking his hand back and forth, trying to dislodge the small gnome from his finger. It held on like a terrier with a rat in it's mouth.

"Get it off! Get it off!" Raph bellowed, continuing to fling his hand around. "Get dis damned t'in' off my hand!"

The gnome looked pleased being called 'damned'.

"Hang on, bro! I'm on it!" Mikey ran up holding two two-by-four sanding blocks in his hands. He watched closely as Raph flipped his hand about. He wanted to get his timing just right.

Raph had had enough. He raised his hand, fully intending to slam it onto the cement floor, and shatter the nasty little monster currently trying to eat the flesh off his finger. He'd probably break a few dozen bones, but Donnie was a damn good doc, and it couldn't hurt as much as this little jerk's teeth buried in his hand.

NOTHING could hurt as much as this little bastard's teeth buried in his hand!

Wrong.

Right when Raph's hand was even with Mikey's chest, the orange banded ninja slammed the sanding blocks on either side of the gnome, sandwiching it in between. The demon gnome was smashed, along with Raph's sore, chewed on by gnome teeth finger.

He had been cut, stabbed, beaten with every imaginable weapon one could think of, hit by a car, burned, had countless broken bones, concussions, and a cracked shell, but nothing in Raph's twenty-one years of battle injury experience had ever hurt as much as having his baby brother smash his finger between those two pieces of wood.

It hurt so bad Raph could barely breath let alone swear. Tears welled up in his eyes, and if he had a nose, it would surely be running right about now. The only good thing was, Splinter had had the parental foresight to guess what Mikey was planning to do, and slid the chest under Raph's hand so all the pieces of the shattered gnome were collected.

 

"Tell me again why we have all these dead generators just lying around back here?" Leo grunted, pushing with all the strength he could muster to move a stripped down generator aside enough for Donnie to see what lay under the other four piled up behind it.

"I use them for parts, and they are all metal construction," Donnie shined his flashlight underneath the scrap machinery. "Do I need to explain why we need the metal too?" Donnie didn't expect an answer, which was good because Leo wasn't giving one. "I found them!" the genius cried. "They're along the back wall, and I didn't see anything on top weighing them down."

"So, now what do we do?" the spirit gnome asked.

"This is where you come in," Leo set the gnome down on the floor. "Go in there. Get the cloths, and bring them out to us."

"Are you crazy!? They could be waiting for me back there! I could get smashed!" The spirit gnome turned to run in whatever direction wasn't blocked by turtle.

He ran into the flat of Leo's katana, chipping off several paint flakes.

"Listen up, you," from his tone of voice, Leo had had enough gnome sass for one century. "If you don't go get those cloths, I am going to take my sword and stick it someplace that will make you scream louder than Raph just did. Would you like for me to tell you where that place is?" Leo leaned down, scowling. "Or should I just SHOW you?"

The gnome swallowed hard several times, his adam's apple bobbing up and down. "I'm going! I'm going! No need to go and get all violent on me," he disappeared under the pile of machinery. "Pushy reptiles! Just who do they think they are!? Telling ME, an age old spirit what to do!" The gnome's grumbling could be heard from all the way back to the back wall.

Leo and Donnie just grinned at each other.

The brothers didn't have to wait long. After only a few minutes, the gnome reappeared, dragging the cloths behind him, and running as fast as his little legs could go.

"Take these! Take 'em! They're yours! I don't want 'em!" The gnome ran behind Donnie and started climbing the olive turtle like Donnie was Mount Everest.

The reason for the gnome's sudden fear made itself evident in the form of a red capped gnome packing Donnie's lightweight cordless drill.

It was almost comical.

"Umm, Leo..."

It quickly became anything BUT comical as the oni charged Donnie, drill aimed at the bo wielder's foot.

"Leo! Do something!" Donnie hopped back, lifting the foot the oni was aiming for. "Now would be preferable!" The gnome changed directions, heading for Donnie's other foot.

To an outsider looking in, they may have thought Donnie and the red capped gnome were doing some strange new square dance routine.

Leo had to get rid of the binding cloths to effectively use his swords, and he didn't dare lay them down. "Donnie, catch!"

Donnie's dance steps faltered slightly when he found his eyesight cut off by two dirty, more than a little musty, cloths. Having lost track of his tiny, but dangerous opponent, the genius jumped straight up, flipped himself backwards to land on top of the old generator Leo had moved.

"Be still, mortal!" the oni gunned the drill. "I have no patience for this!"

"Maybe you'll have patience for this!" Leo swung his sword in a downward stroke, hoping to disarm the oni.

It didn't work.

The oni easily dodged, laughing at Leo's frustrated scowl. "I am older than time, mortal! You cannot defeat me!"

"We'll just see about that!" Leo growled.

While Leo kept the oni occupied, Donnie had an idea how to quickly end this confrontation. Silently, the bo master jumped from the generator, spirit gnome in tow, to the floor, landing in front of a set of storage shelves. After a brief rummaging through boxes, while grumbling about needing some kind of filing/labeling system for the garage during emergencies, Donnie found the box he was looking for. Extra weights for the free weight bar.

Back atop his perch, Donnie caught Leo's eye, and motioned for his brother to maneuver the oni until it was in front of the generator directly under Donnie.

Giving a curt nod in understanding, Leo began an intricate set of thrusts, feints, and sidesteps until the oni was right where Donatello wanted it.

As soon as the oni was in position, Donnie held the box from the shelves over the oni's head, and let go.

"Wow! Man alive!" the spirit gnome peeked out from behind Donnie's carapace. "He's going to be feeling THAT for a while!"

"At least it didn't hurt long," Leo sighed. "Come on. Let's get back to the others."

 

When Leo and Donnie got back to their brothers, it was evident the two brightly banded ninja had not been goofing off. There were three separate piles of ceramic fragments in the chest.

Leo dropped the cloths onto the open lid of the chest. "We have all three spirits accounted for, and four of the oni," he watched as Donnie poured the remains of the drill wielding gnome in the chest. "How many does that leave?" he asked the spirit.

"Six," the spirit stuck a finger in his ear wiggling it around. "And one's really nasty."

"Are they all in the garage?" Donnie asked.

The gnome shook his head, scratching at his other ear.

"I shall send a spiritual challenge," Splinter sat on the floor in the lotus position. "Hopefully it will lure them here."

"I hate to keep bringing this up, guys, but we have less than thirty minutes before April shows." A countdown was clearly displayed on Donnie's shell cell. "We don't have time for anything elaborate."

"Dat suits me jus' fine," Raph started to slam a fist into his open palm, but thought better of it considering his smashed and bitten finger. "I'm ready ta dish out a little payback."

Leo looked around the garage, rapidly devising strategies to capture the oni, and discarding them just as quickly. "Do we still have Casey's extra sports gear, Donnie?"

"Yes. He decided to keep it here so April wouldn't be tempted to use it on him."

 Leo raised an eyeridge. "You're joking. Right?"

Donnie shrugged. "His words."

All in all, it made sense, in a weird Casey sort of way.

Leo quickly got back on track. "What's the slickest substance we have in the lair?"

Mikey's face lit up. He held up a finger, opening his mouth to answer. Raph quickly clamped his uninjured hand over his baby brother's mouth.

Donnie didn't hesitate. "My silicone lubricant."

"Mikey!" Raph jerked his hand away from his brother's mouth, rubbing it furiously against his leg. "Dat's nasty!"

"Good," Leo grinned. "Donnie, I was hoping you'd say that."

Mikey plastered a fake look of hurt on his face. "You never complain when I'm sucking your fingers before..."

"Michelangelo!" Splinter smacked the orange banded ninja with his staff. "Father present!"

"Sorry, Sensei." Mikey really needed to work on sincerity in his apologies.

Leo gave his baby brother a long suffering look. "Huddle up team. Here's the plan."

The Hamato clan gathered around their leader. Everyone was so intent on Leo's plan, no one noticed the almost maniacal glint in the spirit gnome's eyes.

 

"It's ready, Sensei. Whenever you are."

Splinter took the microphone his genius son handed him. He looked the small device over, cleared his throat, then pressed the button on the side.

"Demons!" Splinter's voice echoed throughout the lair. "You have invaded my home. You have attacked myself and my family! You will return to the chest, and your eternal imprisonment, or be destroyed once again by the Hamato clan! My challenge has been issued!" Splinter handed the microphone back to Donnie. "That should be sufficient."

The spirit stared thoughtfully at the ceiling, hand rubbing his chin. "Yeah. Should be," he muttered noncommittally.

"Now what?" Raph growled, spinning his sai.

Arms crossed over his plastron, Leo leaned against a stack of spare tires, looking for all the world, as calm as still water. "We wait for them to show up."

All heads turned when the door to the emergency stairs creaked. "That didn't take long," Mikey said, watching as the door slowly swung closed.

"Your end has come, Hamato clan! Show yourself!"

Leo nodded to his father.

"You seek to destroy me, puny demon?!" Splinter snarled, carefully positioning himself directly in front of the chest. "You are welcome to try!"

The four brothers stood two on either side of their father, hands behind their backs. One gnome stepped into view, a blue cap missing a good sized chunk of his hat.

It glared maliciously at Raphael.

It was joined by a red and two purples.

"Where is the rest of your ilk?" Splinter demanded.

"You will soon find out, puny mortal!" the oni gave an evil laugh. "If you live that long!"

Faster than the eye could follow, the demon gnomes moved as one. They surged forward, aiming for Splinter. They then came to an immediate halt almost as quickly as they started.

The brothers had spread a thick layer of Donnie's lubricant gel on the floor, starting about two feet from the stairway door, and ending at the open chest, now laying on it's side. The oni had just gotten going, when they discovered something was up.

The gnome in the lead had his feet slip out from under him. "What..." he shouted flipping up into the air. "Nooo!" He came down right on top of one of the purple caps, smashing it into about a dozen pieces.

"Score one for the home team!" Mikey shouted, giving a fist pump.

The other purple gnome knelt by his shattered compatriot. "Murasaki, you shall be avenged!" He turned angry, glaring eyes on Leo. "I shall eat your heart dipped in sake when this is over!"

"Good luck with that."

The only thing that registered in the gnome's mind right before his world went black was the head of Casey's nine iron coming at him. Leo felt an overwhelming sense of satisfaction seeing the gnome's head shatter on impact.

Taking a perfect golfer's stance, Leo lined up the lower half of the gnome's body with the mouth of the chest. "FOUR!" The blue banded leader was rewarded with the dull thump of the gnome's ass hitting the back of the chest. Leo looked up at Raph grinning. "There's something to be said for that. Very satisfying."

"What? Playin' golf? Or hittin' shit when pissed?"

"Both."

Realizing the tides had turned, and not in their favor, the red capped and blue capped gnomes decided it was a good time for a tactical retreat. Again acting as if they were of one mind, the oni spun around, heading for the door. Or rather they tried to seconds before they went down in a jumbled pile.

Mikey fell to his knees laughing hysterically. "Th-these guys l-look like something ow-out of an old fi-fifties cartoon!"

The blue capped gnome was apparently well acquainted with Mikey's reference. He placed on hand firmly on the floor, pushing himself up enough to stand. 

"We are..." his hand slipped, letting his chin make hard contact with the red capped gnome's crotch. "We are not," he tried again, and this time made it to a sitting position. "Some mass media, slap stick, entertainment distraction for a bunch of snot nosed, sugar buzzed, human offspring in desperate need of a bath!" To prove his point, the gnome rolled over onto his hands and knees and carefully stood in a very good imitation of a toddler just learning how to stand. "We are demons! Creatures to be feared by one and all!"

The brothers had to admit, the gnome looked very intimidating, in a comical sort of way, standing there head held high and hands on his hips. Right up until his feet slipped in Donnie's gel, and he did a perfectly executed splits that would have made the Dallas Cowboys' cheerleaders proud.

Leo was worried Mikey was going to hyperventilate.

Donnie was worried April was going to walk in any second.

Splinter was worried he was going to miss the new episode of his favorite show because recapturing the oni was taking way too long.

Raph to the rescue!

By this point, Raph wanted to bring this demon gnome hunting to a quick end for one reason, and one reason only. His finger hurt, and all he wanted to do was ice it. Walking up to the uncoordinated gnomes and giving Casey's cricket bat a twirl, the emerald turtle drew back and swung. He was rewarded with a shattering sound then a dull thump.

"One down," Raph looked at the red capped gnome scrabbling around on the gel slicked floor. "One ta go."

Raph traded out the cricket bat for the Louisville Slugger Mikey had dropped during the orange ninja's laughing attack. He walked back to the sprawled gnome with an almost bored look on his face. "Head's up, china doll," the brawler growled, bring the bat down like an apothecary using a pestle. Or a pissed off homemaker mashing potatoes.

"Anyt'in' else I can help ya wid?" Raph asked no one in particular.

Leo looked wide eyed at his emerald brother. "Damn, Raph... That was..."

"Totally awesome!" Mikey cheered.

"Incredibly violent even for you," came from Donnie.

"But not for me!"

Everyone froze. Standing beside Splinter was the brown capped gnome, a malevolent smile on his face holding Donnie pneumatic nail gun. The oni was aiming directly at the ninja master's head.

Donnie very slowly laid his weapon on the floor, being careful to keep his hands in sight the entire time. "Let's all just stay calm, and talk this out."

"The time for talk is past!" The oni swung the nail gun around, pointing at Donnie. "Have you any idea how many points I would have gained for killing that rat!? I would have been in the lead for CENTURIES!"

Points? Leo blinked. The demon had to be kidding. There was no way all of this was... "Are you saying all of you are just playing some kind of GAME?!"

"What else would it be!? You THINK we like being locked up for who the Hell knows how long waiting for some stupid moron to come along and unlock that damned chest? Of course it's a GAME! We're older than thought! Eternity gets pretty damned BORING after the first ten eons!"

Mikey knew how to relate to this brown capped gamer. "So dude," the sea green turtle sauntered on over, kneeling down to the gnome's level. "Gamer to gamer, how many points would you get for each of us?"

The gnome's face lit up as he launched into a detailed, and lengthy explanation of the rules, regulations, and points system for the game he and his fellow demons were playing.

Leo wasn't the only one who heard it, so did Donnie, Raph, and Master Splinter. If Mikey picked up the irregular squeaking sound over the oni's booming voice, the sea green ninja gave no indication of it. Keeping his hands behind his back, Raph kept flicking the tip of one finger towards the ceiling. Leo discretely looked up, and didn't know whether to be impressed, or shocked.

The remaining spirit gnome sat perched on the large, reflective light fixture hanging directly over the oni and Mikey... with a screwdriver. He was loosening the screws holding the fixture to the ceiling beam, pocketing them to keep from alerting the oni by letting them fall to the floor.

Leo looked to Raph, the turtle closest to Mikey. The emerald turtle dipped his chin ever so slightly, if Leo hadn't been watching, he would have missed it.

Leo wasn't the only one to notice. Mikey was being his usual energetic, overly animated self as he talked with the gamer gnome. As the sea green turtle waved his hands about, his brothers all three saw the quick 'OK' sign he flashed them.

Everyone was aware of what was going to happen. Everyone except the oni, that is.

With a ear piercing screech, and a loud, "Ride 'em cowboy!" from the spirit gnome, the light fixture came loose from it's bracket, plummeting to the garage floor. Raph dove for Mikey, who turned just enough to catch his brother full on, letting the emerald brawler bowl them over away from the danger.

Donnie dove for Splinter, catching the rat in much the same way Raph did Mikey with similar results.

With no one else to rescue, Leo dove for the gel slick. The leaf green turtle landed on his carapace, catching the spirit gnome on his plastron. The pair slide across the gel before coming to a somewhat crash landing against the stairway door.

"Everyone okay?" Raph called out, watching the tip of the brown gnome's hat roll around in a wobbly circle.

"We are fine, my son."

"I'm good," Leo called out.

"So, we're down to what, one now?" Mikey asked, picking himself up off the floor.

"I believe so," Leo raised a questioning eyeridge at the spirit gnome.

The gnome nodded. "The only one left is Daidai Iro, and he's the worst of them all."

The small, side door leading to the street suddenly opened. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late but Casey stopped by and we decided to go grab some pizza for everyone."

The turtles had run out of time, and there was still one demon gnome unaccounted for.

 

The spirit gnome dove for the open chest, burying himself as well as he possibly could under the shards of the broken gnomes.

Leo had a look of pure terror on his face, images of their human friends being emotionally and mentally tortured  to the point of suicide ran through his mind.

"We also picked up some wings, beer, chips with dip, cheeseburgers, ice cream, cookies. Oh, some salad for Leo," Casey carefully maneuvered his food laden self through the door. "We even had time to stop by and..."

The door flew back, as if trying to close, hitting Casey in the shoulder.

"Hey, what gives? Your door need new hinges or something?" Casey bumped the door back open with his hip.

The door barely made it halfway to the wall before swinging closed again with twice as much force as before.

Casey had just enough time to get his grocery bag laden arm up to stop his head from slamming into the door facing. More than a little irritated, Casey butt checked the door, throwing it back open.

"Guys, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Mikey asked, watching the ongoing battle between human and door.

"Mh-hm."

"It's a sound theory."

"Why would the oni be near the door?" Leo mused. "We're over here."

"Escape!" the spirit hissed from inside the chest. "If one remains free, the chest cannot be resealed. The oni would be able to continually escape. Gotta catch 'em all," the gnome sang the Pokémon catch phrase. "Or it doesn't work."

"T'in's are about ta get real interestin', bros," Raph nodded towards Casey and the ongoing door battle. "I'd say one more ass check, and he's gonna blow a gasket."

Then it happened. The door hit Casey in the rear yet again.

Having had enough, Casey decided to bring a quick end to the spring loaded door battle. He stepped inside, and using his body as a stop, held the door open for April to enter.

April quickly scooted through, not wanting to get hit by the swinging door, and possibly ruining the pizzas. No one, not even Mikey liked having to scrape the cheese off the box.

Once April was through, Casey cautiously moved back from the door. It stayed put, making no move to hit him whatsoever. The raven haired hockey player relaxed, thinking he had won.

He hadn't.

Casey was caught completely unaware when the door slammed into him.

Neither human heard the nasty snort when the door hit, but their mutant friends did.

When the door slammed into him, the impact to Casey wasn't as bad as it could have been. The human's body was cushioned on both sides by the bags of groceries he carried. Instead of being thankful, which the turtles had expected, Casey was furious.

"Oh no! It damn well better not have!" Casey glowered, rummaging through a bag. "Dammit!" He pulled out a silver wrapped something smashed nearly flat.  Bits of chocolate cake fell from the ripped and torn silver foil. "That damn door smashed my Ding Dong!"

"That must have hurt," Mikey mumbled.

Raph snickered.

"All the white stuff got smooshed out!" Casey continued to rant.

Leo couldn't help snorting.

"Damn door!" Casey braced his back on the opposite side facing, and raised his foot. "I wanted to lick the white stuff out myself!"

Even Master Splinter chuckled on that one.

Casey put ever bit of disappointed anger into his kick. The door slammed into the wall with enough force to send it flying back at Casey. This time the human was prepared. He kicked the door again with equal fervor several times over until he heard the sound of something shattering and clattering to the floor.

"Score!" whispered the spirit gnome from inside the chest.

"Sheesh, guys," Casey grinned sheepishly. "I didn't mean to break anything. I guess I let my temper get the better of me... Again."

Donnie walked over and gently pulled Casey inside before closing and locking the door. "It's orange capped," the genius announced. "We got them all."

"Got what, guys?" April asked, looking slightly confused.

"Go downstairs, April. You and Casey set things up for dinner," Leo smiled. "We need a few minutes to clean up." A frowning Raph waved his very swollen finger at the leaf green turtle. Leo tipped his head in the emerald turtle's direction. "And to tend to injuries." That earned him a rare Raph grin. "Then we'll be down."

"Oh... Okay, then..." April looked even more confused.

Casey just looked forlornly at his ruined Ding Dong.

"I shall accompany you, April," Master Splinter patted her on the back. "I shall begin our tale. And it is a doozie!"

Once the humans were safely out of earshot, Leo righted the chest, kneeling beside it.

"Thank you, for all your help," the leader said to the single surviving gnome.

"You're welcome," the spirit grinned back. "It was the most fun I've had in a long time."

"I hate to do it, but we have to seal the chest back."

The gnome shrugged. "That's fine. Just don't forget the cloths. All the pieces will sort of stick together, so sweeping them up shouldn't be to hard for you."

Leo wasn't one hundred percent sure, but it sounded a little as if the gnome had just insulted him, and his brothers. Either way, he wasn't going to worry about it. There were friends, stroganoff, and pizza waiting, and he could use a little relaxation.

 

"That didn't last long! Now what do we do?" The blue capped gnome sat crossed legged on the bottom of the chest, chin on fist, glaring.

"I have a suggestion," the green capped gnome giggled behind his hands.

"It's about time! You haven't had a suggestion in four centuries!" growled one of the purple capped gnomes.

"He hasn't," Agreed the blue capped gnome. "But you have to admit, his last suggestion was damned fun!"

"Okay, what is it?"

"While I was in the purple turtle's lab, I managed to access his computers." the spirit gnome grinned. "They have enemies, right here in this very city!"

"So?"

"They're ninjas too!"

"What are we waiting for?" the orange capped gnome rubbed his hands together expectantly. "Let's get going!"

 

The evening was loads of fun for everyone. Mikey's stroganoff was a big hit. And the turtle brothers enjoyed recounting their tale almost as much as their friends enjoyed hearing it. Before anyone knew it, the hour had grown late, and as with all things good or bad, the fun had to end.

The four brothers saw their friends to the door, thanking them once again for dinner, and the unexpected assist. Donnie closed the door after April and Casey had left, once again securing the locks.

Leo glanced around the garage, feeling more and more uneasy by the second as he failed to find what he was searching for. "Guys, where's the chest?"

The other three looked around, also finding no sign of the chest or the gnomes within.

"Maybe dey went back ta da junkyard?"

"How," Mikey demanded. "That chest didn't have wheels."

"Magic, knucklehead," Raph picked up a bent shuriken from a worktable, tossing it at his baby brother. "Woulda thought dat was obvious." 

"Whatever the means, it's not here NOW. We can't have something with that kind of destructive potential just lying around the city," Donnie looked around again, half hoping the chest would magically appear.

"Chill dudes," Mikey grinned. "It's cool! Remember what that little spirit guy said? The lock can only be opened by a descendant of the original warrior," Mikey pointed both thumbs at himself. "Which is us! OR by reading the inscription on the lock, which no one in this day and age can do."

Leo sighed. "Mikey's right..."

"Dat's a first, Raph smirked.

"HEY!" Mikey glared at his brawler brother.

"I'll talk to Sensei about it," Leo continued, ignoring his brother's squabbling. "If he can't pick up on their energies, I'm not going to worry about it."

Donnie looked at Raph, eyes wide. Leo not worry? That was a first.

Leo caught the shared look between the two middle brothers. "Like I said, Mikey's right. What harm could they possibly do?"

 

Karai sat on her throne glowering as two soldiers carried a chest between them, setting it at the Foot leader's feet.

"What is inside?!" she demanded of the four Elite ninja standing beside her.

"We cannot penetrate the sealing magics surrounding the box, Majesty."

"Can you open it?"

"Yes, Majesty. The seals are made of common spells. Very easily opened."

"Then do so!" Karai shifted in her seat. "I wish to see what gift Hun and his Purple Dragon filth deem worthy of me."

"Yes, Majesty!"

Unknown to Karai, or her sorcerers, two of the ceramic figures inside the box grinned at one another.

"This is going to be so much fun!"

"Yep! It is! But next time, I want to be the blue one," the little figure reached up straightening the purple bandana tied around his eyes. "You're more suited to being orange."

 

Thanks for reading.


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